First eye hospital opens in rural Songjiang
An elderly woman gets her eyes checked at the newly opened Ai'er Eye Hospital in rural Songjiang District on Monday.
People in rural Songjiang District no longer have to travel to downtown areas for eye checks and treatment, thanks to the opening of the district's first optical hospital on Monday.
Shanghai Ai'er Eye Hospital officials announced plans to create a myopia prevention, monitoring and treatment system based on a database of minors' vision development. It has set up a special clinic for minors with myopia.
The hospital will collaborate with Songjiang District Charity Foundation to launch a program offering charity surgery for the elderly, disabled and other people in Songjiang who are in need of cataract and eye base disease screening and treatment.
For many years, the Shanghai health authority has prioritized the eye health of minors and the elderly, leading to a drop in the prevalence of myopia among minors.
According to the Shanghai Health Commission, the prevalence of myopia among local children and students was 60 percent last year, 1.2 percentage points lower from the previous year.
